Interview: Morrow’s Memory

Metro-Detroit’s own, Morrow’s Memory, possess an elusive sound depicted as ‘sophisticated rock-forged with head-banging riffs, lyrics that speak to the masses and melodies that resonate in your soul’. That has certainly converted into significant airplay, reviews, magazine features, and other press worldwide. 1 In Music meets the band for an interview as the group promotes their follow-up EP release, “TakeControl“.

1inmusic: What is unique about you and your music?Morrow’s Memory [MM]: There is a lot of variety. We don’t strictly stick to one specific type of sound. We write and if we think something sounds good, then we all try our best to turn it into something great. That all said, all of our songs can fit into genres of rock, alternative, and/or progressive. Some of the songs make perfect sense for modern rock radio, while others are a bit more intricate or lengthy for that avenue.

1inmusic: What shaped your music and who supports you?
[MM]: While we write 100% of our own music, it would be selfish to say that we haven’t been heavily influenced. There are countless artists that we’ve listened to over the years that have helped mold us as musicians. There are also teachers, family, friends, and others that have also played a role. In terms of support, we are very lucky to have some amazing fans, friends, and family that are always willing to give our music a chance and also come out and support us live.

1inmusic: When did you realise you were going to make music professionally?
[MM]: It’s something that sort of “happened” naturally with each of us over the years. You pick up an instrument for fun. You start to learn to play. You start learning and performing other people’s music. Eventually, if the passion and talent is there, you start writing and performing your own music in a professional setting. There was never an exact moment for any of us.

1inmusic: What type of music do you listen to?[MM]: We are all over the place with our music preferences, but what we share in common are mainly bands within different genres of rock.

1inmusic: Who, to you, is the most undervalued music artist?[MM]: There isn’t any artist in particular for us to collectively name. But it is safe to say that we alone have shared the stage with many artists that are undervalued, with more talent and better writing than many successful artists heard on commercial radio. That’s not to bash the popular music that is out there today, but there is so much great stuff that is unheard by the masses.

1inmusic: How do you prepare for your performances?[MM]: We practice individually and also practice together at scheduled rehearsals. We will usually decide on a set list and practice running it. If there are any parts that we struggle with, we’ll run them over and over again until we have them down perfectly.

1inmusic: What ignites your (song) writing flow?[MM]: In general, it usually starts with one member writing a few parts on guitar and demoing the song. Other times it starts with one part and a catchy vocal hook. If the whole band is on board with the idea, then we start to piece things together in a collaborative manner. We write further, we rewrite, and we restructure, until the song has the proper flow and hooks. In that process, melodies are born and lyrics are worked in as well. And then we rehearse and sometimes revise further. We work on it until everyone thinks that the song is great. If we can’t reach that point, then the song may be tabled or let go.

1inmusic: What do you do when you don’t do music (creative or otherwise) and that you are passionate about?[MM]: When we’re not doing all things Morrow’s Memory, we all have different careers outside of music. In terms of passions, we are all over the place between family, sports, philanthropy/volunteer work, gaming, animals, cars, traveling, science, space, engineering, etc.

1inmusic: Success to you is…[MM]: Success can be defined in so many ways, and it’s more than money and sales. First and foremost, success is setting and reaching your goals. That’s a big part of progressing as a band. Completing a milestone such as releasing an album or EP for example, is something to be proud of, that no one can ever take away from you. You’ll always have it. That is success in itself. Success is putting your music out there and getting positive feedback from critics, or hearing from someone 6,000 miles away that somehow learned about you, purchased your music, and listened to you. Success is putting together events, and having people show up and have a good time. Whether you’re big or small, there is nothing quite like making connections with others through your music.

1inmusic: What do you wish you were told when you started out and that you think would help anyone who starts out?[MM]: There are so many things. I would say that unless you’re content with being a garage band, you need to understand that there is a business side of being in a band and that can’t be neglected.

1inmusic: Any upcoming projects?[MM]: We recently released our follow up EP, “Take Control” on July 24th 2016. Currently we are in the process of promoting the new release and writing new material.

1inmusic: Guys, thank you for this interview. Can you let us know where we can find your music?[MM]: